Arts watch. Rock review.

Brains As Bad--and Good--as They Wanna Be

March 02, 1999|By Joshua Klein. Special to the Tribune.

Rising out of Washington, D.C.'s early '80s hard-core punk scene, the band Bad Brains broke speed records and race barriers in one fell swoop. Quickly dominating a mostly white music scene with its unique blend of ultra-fast rock and surprisingly proficient reggae, the African-American members of the band laid the way for the future crossover of Living Colour, among other groups, while still remaining something of an underground sensation.

What, then, prevented the band from crossing over itself? For one, Bad Brains' explicitly political music and extremely aggressive playing was far too intense for some club owners. Further, Bad Brains shows often provoked violence. Last but not least, a lot of that violence stemmed from singer Paul "H.R." Hudson himself.

Though the group performed at the House of Blues on Sunday night with an exacting precision that befitted its jazz-fusion background, thanks to H.R. the air was tinged with volatility. In the past, H.R.'s unpredictability occasionally led to psychotic behavior. On more than one occasion, Bad Brains broke up because he attacked either his bandmates or his business associates, both on and off stage. Sometimes the outbursts were even directed at the audience.

In the years since the group's last full tour as Bad Brains, in 1995, the band members have apparently buried the hatchet--or at least sought help. Performing for legal reasons as Soul Brains, the original Bad Brains lineup--singer H.R., drummer Earl Hudson, guitarist Gary "Dr. Know" Miller, and bassist Darryl Jenifer--blew through a breakneck set drawn almost chronologically from its early albums.

An eerily docile H.R. received a hero's welcome when he waltzed on stage, an unsettling grin giving way to his effective if somewhat distracted recital of the band's "Attitude." Dr. Know's blazing leads flew in and around the rhythmic knots tied by Hudson and Jenifer, while H.R. mainly stood still behind the microphone, his hands clasped in front of him as if in meditation. Hey, if that's what it takes to keep him from throwing himself at the crowd, so be it.

As Bad Brains zoomed through seminal tracks such as the appropriately titled "Sailin' On," "Right Brigade" and "Re-ignition," the audience grew increasingly agitated. But when the band finally shifted gears into reggae well into the set, the same people who had been butting heads--shaved and dreadlocked alike--seconds before began bobbing appreciatively.

The laid-back philosophy of Rastafarianism would seem to be at odds with the unrestrained anger of hard-core punk, but that contradiction is part of what makes Bad Brains so powerful. Even as bodies flew through the air and his bandmates played, H.R. mostly stood still, calmly praising Jah between songs and offering his blessings to the loyal legions of die-hard punks who came to pay their respects to one of the greatest bands of their time.